It appears students must take two religion classes as a part of the 16 core classes: “Biblical Studies” and “Theological Studies”. Is there a way around that? Maybe replace them w/ something else? Thanks.
Ask the admissions office. I’m sure it’s a common question. Doesn’t sound like it but often religious classes are academic, not proselytizing . They note nearly half the kids have no religious preference and only 12% identify as Lutheran.
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I’m 99% sure there isn’t a way out of these or any other required courses. You could call admissions and ask.
The good news is the topics are quite broad. My agnostic son just took a course in Buddhism to fulfill his “Religion, Faith, and Values” core requirement and he reported it was quite interesting. He will be taking a “Tolkien and Theology” course to full the “Christian Theology in Dialogue” core requirement.
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You can check the course registration portal to get a taste of what courses are available this spring, as if he were studying there now.
For the Christian Theology in Dialogue requirement, he could pick from courses as varied as “God, Evil, and Human Suffering”, “Beauty, Arts, and Religion”, “The Death of God”, and “Intro to Feminist Theology”. For the Religion, Faith, & Values requirement, options range from “Jewish Women In Their Own Words”, to “The Secular: Life Without Religion?”, to “Heroes, Villains, and Christianity”, to “God at the Movies: Religion & Film”, to others. The full list of religion courses (some only offered periodically) shows an embarrassment of riches.
If he likes the school otherwise (and I hope he does; my kids didn’t end up there, but I was really impressed by it), he shouldn’t be swayed by those two requirements. He’ll have options.
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Wow these appear to be great options!
And, compared to other schools, maybe 16 total required courses isn’t that bad after all!
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My son was really enthusiastic about St. Olaf (ended up getting into a different school ED, but it would have been a top choice if he hadn’t), and we are a secular interfaith family, so we looked into this requirement. These courses are offered in the spirit of a religiously affiliated school that serves a much broader population (beyond its affiliation) and fosters a spirit of inquiry and investigation. There are so many courses to choose from, and they encourage students to explore the impact of religion on life and culture – they’re not intended to proselytize.
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We asked about the classes when we toured. I had already read the course descriptions and the classes sounded very interesting to me, an atheist. I was very intrigued by their descriptions of the classes and why they require them. They are more of a thought exercise/challenge and they view religious doctrine as a call to inclusion and acceptance. They have “uninvited” religious speakers who do not embrace DEI (that’s not exactly what they said, but they do not support hosting religious speakers that aim to exclude anyone for the community).
To me, they sounded like the kind of classes that a kid who didn’t want to take “religion classes” would enjoy.
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I’m not understanding this - as it appears from this website, it’s a liberal school that’s welcoming.
So are you saying, by not featuring one specific group, they want equality for all ?
Just trying to understand what you wrote. Not sure I did.
It was awhile ago, so I don’t remember exactly, but It seems like shortly before we visited, they uninvited a speaker that made statements about the LGBTQ community. It was not that the speaker made comments about “science” or “what liturgy says”, but more along the lines of some kind of punishment that should be fall them. They even stated that their classes emphasize that actions are more important than thoughts. I sounded like this person had made a call to action and the school did not want to give that person an opportunity to amplify that call. This was not a person invited by a student group who the administration was preventing from speaking. This was someone the administration had invited and then decided that they did not want to support. Again, long time ago, and I’m being pretty non-specific because I don’t remember exactly. But they do live up to the acceptance and community the espouse.
This op was asking for specifics about St Olaf. Off topic conversations need to be moved to pm. Please redirect all comments to the OP’s question.
A number of posts hidden and deleted (including replies to now hidden comments).
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My two cents is some academic study of religion is an important part of a broad liberal arts education. So I would be another vote in favor of not trying to avoid this requirement but instead embracing the opportunity to do a couple really interesting classes.
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St. Olaf is upfront about course requirements so IMO anyone choosing to attend has agreed to abide by their program. Sounds like the OP is satisfied that there will be diverse and interesting offerings.
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